Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition

	Get this title for free!

Age Group: Age 8 and Up Type: Thinking Games, Social Studies Price: $35.00 US

PC version requires:
486-33, 8M rAM, 15M hard drive, CDx2

Mac version requires:
System 7.1, 68040-20, 4.5MB RAM free

Description:

Whether you want to begin a new case or take a break and explore, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition will expand your knowledge of World Geography. When you first team up with the ACME Detective Agency you will be assigned the rank of "Rookie". As you win cases you will earn promotions until you become the ultimate "Super Sleuth" and can go after Carmen Sandiego herself. If you catch Carmen you become a member of the Hall of Fame.

Cases are exciting as you fly all over the world, questioning witnesses, filling out your Digisketch so you can issue a warrant (gotta have one). You'll know you're in the right country when you see Carmen's cat, Carmine, or catch Rick and Nick ICK the bumbling janitors trying to clean up after the crook. Time is of the essence because if you take too long the battery powered Babel-Link Translator will run out of juice and you'll lose the case. The Babel-Link Translator comes fully equipped with a Videophone, World Wiz Database, Digisketch, Fly by Night Travel Button, Country Map, Notepad, Battery Meter, and three Statements you can use to converse with witnesses.

The Videophone is your link to the Chief and ACME's Good Guides. Click on Good Guides for a tour of the country you are in. Fortunately, the tour doesn't use up battery time, and if you take a tour you can call on the Guide to validate your warrant or give you another clue. The World Wiz Database is amazing! You can use it to learn more about the World's countries through a list of facts and essays, photo's, video/music, maps and flags. Use the "Find" feature by typing in a keyword to find places in a quick pinch, but be careful... the "Find" feature will zap some energy from your battery. The Digisketch is a composite of the crook, which you will build by asking witnesses to tell you about the suspect.

Fly by Night Travel is awesome! The player is given a list of departures from his/her current location and may select one. Each time a flight is booked a travel itinerary will show: Departure Location, Flight Time, Time Zones Crossed, and Arriving Location. You will also hear the flight attendant welcome you to each country in its local language, with the English translation shown on the bottom of the travel window. Fly to the wrong locale and the tourists won't know what you're talking about!--that's why it's a good idea to take "notes". You can click on any witness's text and drag it to the notepad which will log the where and when of their statement. Bits of paper found along the way, giving you clues, can be dragged to your notepad as well.

Every country also has an ACME Global Language Link-Up. Click the satellite and get quizzed on the local language. Answer correctly and gain some energy in your ultrabar; fully charge the ultrabar and you uncover RoboCrook.

Features:

• ACME Talking Translator offers words/phrases in 12 languages
• 50 countries with scrolling landscapes. "NEW"
• Video appearances by "The Chief" from PBS.
• Electronic Reference Database with keyword search. "NEW"
• Stunning video & photos from the National Geographic Society.
• 200+ animated talking characters. "NEW"
• Explore mode. "NEW"
• Carmen watch
• Handbook

Technical Aspects:

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? v3.5 installed easily without a glitch! No finger crossing needed on this one, the game comes with detailed install and uninstall directions as well as five pages of troubleshooting advice. Even after all the written support, Broderbund provides online and phone support as well. Rest easy, all the bases are covered.

Report and Conclusions:

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition is definitely worth investing in! Kids will learn while having fun, and trust me, unless your child is a geographical genius he/she will learn!!! The game increases in difficulty and obtaining "Super Sleuth" status is not easy. Right now my husband and I are battling it out to see who makes "Super Sleuth" first. My husband's first comment was "Well, this is easy", that was until he was promoted to Senior Investigator after his fourth win and he started to lose a few games. Even young children will benefit from program. My three-year-old constantly has me at the computer playing his "Carmen Sandy" game (fine by me). He will ask, "Mommy, where shall we fly to next"?

What a wonderful way to introduce young ones to foreign languages. Teach them to say "YES" in Russian, or to count to ten in Mandarin. Increase the fun for older children by creating a "Family Rank Chart" and have a reward for the one who reaches "Super Sleuth" first. The teaching possibilities with this game are endless.

So I say to you, "Don't let Carmen steal the planet's treasures till there's nothing left; you can stop Carmen and learn about the countries that make up our World at the same time." And like the Chief always says, "The best way to learn a job is on the job." Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition is a definite must-buy!